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Ultra-Orthodox Jews

An Ultra-Orthodox Jew walks past a palm silhouetted on the Old City's wall in Jerusalem, May 12, 2013. Dusan Vranic/AP

An Israeli security officer scuffles with an Ultra-Orthodox Jew during a protest against military conscription of yeshiva students, in Jerusalem, May 16, 2013. Bernat Armangue/AP

An Ultra-Orthodox Jew watches clashes between Israeli security forces and Ultra-Orthodox Jews, not pictured, during a protest against military conscription of yeshiva students, in Jerusalem, May 16, 2013. Bernat Armangue/AP

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys sit during a protest against a new conscription law that might force ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the army. Israel's Supreme Court ruled in February that the so-called 'Tal Law,' a 2002 measure that effectively shielded ultra-Orthodox communities from military service, was unconstitutional. The government, faced with the court's ruling, must now either revamp the law, which will expire in August, or approve new legislation. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish bride Nechama Paarel Horowitz fulfils the Mitzvah tantz during her traditional Jewish wedding with Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 15, 2012. Oded Balilty/AP

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys listen to their teacher at a kindergarten in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on May 24, 2012. The ultra-Orthodox Jews have gone from being a tiny minority in Israel's mostly secular society to its fastest-growing sector, now about 10 percent of the 7.8 million population. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man harvests wheat ahead of the Jewish Shavuot holiday, in a field outside the Israeli community of Mevo Horon on May 20, 2012. The Jewish holiday of Shavuot, commemorates Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and also a harvest holiday. Ariel Schalit/AP

Esther Kreus (r.) twirls her brother's side-locks during the family's preparations for the Jewish Sabbath in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on June 29, 2012. The Kreus family are a member of Neturei Karta, a fringe ultra-Orthodox movement within the anti-Zionist bloc. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men participate in a prayer to protest an expected replacement to a Law, that exempts ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from mandatory military service, in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem on June 25, 2012. Sebastian Scheiner/Reuters

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men burn leavened items in a final preparation before the Passover holiday in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish town of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, April 6, 2012. Jews are forbidden to eat leavened foodstuffs during the Passover holiday. Passover celebrates the biblical story of the Israelites' escape from slavery and exodus from Egypt. Oded Balilty/AP

An Ultra Orthodox Jewish girl dressed as a bride during purim festival in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, March 8, 2012. The Jewish holiday of Purim celebrates the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Scroll of Esther. Oded Balilty/AP

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men prepare matza, a traditional unleavened bread, to be eaten during the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover, in Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv on April 2, 2012. Nir Elias/Reuters

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish worshiper uses special glasses during the special 'Blessing of the Sun' prayer at sunrise in the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod on April 8, 2009. Devout Jews around the world observed a ritual performed only once every 28-years, saying their morning prayers under the open sky in the 'blessing of the sun,' called the Birkat Hachamah in Hebrew. Tsafrir Abayov/AP

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city on Jan. 29, 2012. Sebastian Scheiner/AP

An ultra-orthodox Jewish man checks myrtle branches to determine if they are ritually acceptable as one of the four items used as a symbol on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot in the orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem on Oct. 11, 2011. The holiday commemorates the Israelites 40 years of wandering in the desert and a decorated hut is erected outside religious households as a sign of temporary shelter. Oded Balilty/AP

Ultra-Orthodox students play chess inside their classroom during a break at the Kehilot Yaacov Torah School for boys in Ramot, Jerusalem, June 23, 2010. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adeptly navigated Israel’s infamously volatile political landscape for more than three years – until this month. Now he is trapped between two diametrically opposed political forces – the ultra-Orthodox and the secular centrist and left parties – with no clear way of satisfying both as he heads into possible elections.